Customer Reviews

OAT: Complete Preparation for the Optometry Admission Test

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book is an "average" test preparer. What I like about it is that it does a good job describing the field of optometry, and what to expect, however the reviews of the subjects are not as helpful as one would want. The book often suggests that you review another book on a certain area/subject. It does have a complete OAT exam, and offers many techniques and tips for the reading comprehension section, and tips on time managment that will improve speed, which is one of the most important factors that can achieve a good score. This makes the book helpful. I recommend that people study MCAT reviews, because they go into detail when reviewing individual subjects, and can better prepare someone for the OAT exam. At least this book is worth getting because it is of the few books available for pre-optometry students who wish to know more about the exam and the general practice. By reviewing the book and taking to heart what they say about time management, and taking the practice exam, you will know what areas you need to improve on while preparing for the OAT, and what you can do to improve your time on the day of the real exam.

I hate to say this because I'm currently trying to sell my copy of this book on Amazon, but this book was not very helpful. Like the last review says, it's really just an outline with a few sample questions. Even the sample questions were nothing like what I just took, and the explanations of the answers were too brief to be helpful. There was a lot of BS about preparation and test taking strategies which was all common sense. It really seems like this book was just thrown together to make some money, not to help students. The MCAT Review book, on the other hand, was very helpful. I didn't even look at the sample questions, but I read over the organic chemistry sections the night before the OAT, and the organic part of the OAT was a breeze. I also used it last semester to study for my Chemistry final, which I aced! Obviously since it's not made for the OAT, some parts were irrelevant, but it was worth the buy.

I am still trying to figure out how the authors of this book managed to include hundreds pages of text with so little review material. If you are buying this book because you want a condensed review of the topics on OAT exam then don't. For all the sections except physics, and quantitative reasoning, it just gives outline and a few sample questions. You can get similar outlines for the sections when you get your OAT application. Some optometry schools also list the topics covered in the exam on their web site. You are much better off just getting out your school books or buying discipline specific review material for all the sections. If this book was the only resource you had to study for the test then you would utterly fail. The physics portion of the book has the most review material, but manages to leave out extremely important equations for linear motion, motion in two directions, torques, etc. Instead it gives cryptic descriptions of these topics which aren't very useful in an exam setting. There are a couple of theory questions on the samples exams I have seen, but most of the questions require you to substitute variables and solve equations. Also, i did the physics section of their sample OAT exam. In no way would that section ever be on the test. I have a BS in engineering and physics is one of my better subjects. I struggled with the section and was not able to finish it in the alloted time. It was very difficult and even required solving a quadratic equation to answer one of the questions. I took the physics portion of the test under timed conditions from sample exams included in the application packet and the Top-score pro software. They were more realistic to questions on a real OAT exam. It is a shame that this book is the only OAT specific book that I know of. For people who have to study for the exam at the last minute don't expect this book to be very helpful.

Well, the book does have information in it that can be useful. But what gets me is that the cover explicitly says 2001 OAT prep, but as soon as you open the front cover you see that they have just put a new cover on the 2000 edition. Even the dates that are listed in there were incorrect. The test questions were OK, but upon cross referencing with my other study materials, i found that every single problem in the book was also listed in the MCAT prep guide from a few years ago, and the MCAT book gave explanations to the solutions while this book did not. Bottom line - If you have nothing else to use, this book is OK. If you're serious, get other books which have better explanations for problems and give better background on the material.

This book is definitely NOT "Complete Preparation for the OAT." It offers useless generic advice such as not studying late at night. The actual review material is condensed to a few pages and an outline of every topic tested. The instruction even tell you that you can purchase thier MCAT book for more information. All in all, there is nothing in this worthless book that is of any use.
I suggest the Exam Kracker series of MCAT books. They have thourough coverage of Bio, Chem, Organic Chemk, Physics and Math. The books are clear and concise and use figures to illustrate the text. Also, review questions are found at the end of every section to gauge understanding. Although these books are a bit more expensive in all, it is worth it.

The practice exam at the back of the book is not actually full-length. Especially because the OAT is now computerized, consider buying TopScore Pro instead and also using Kaplan materials. When the Lippincott arrives in the mail, you will be surprised by its thinness, both physically and by the extent of coverage of material. Most public libraries also carry it (or the DAT version, a good substitute), and you can copy out the exam and the grading scale (which will help you score your Kaplan practice tests) from the back.

This is one of the finest examples of poor editing I have ever seen in any review book, ever. In a review book involving this much varied technical information, one might expect to find one or two errors, but this manual seems to have been written by someone who was either a) having sex or b) ingesting large amounts of narcotics, neither of which is something that should be done while writing detailed science review. I dont use drugs, but reading this book for a few minutes has enticed me to try them. In addition, I had to close the window to my apartment for fear I might lose control and try to jump for it. In less than 30 minutes of opening this thing, I found numerous mistakes in various sections, some of which are explained by poor question writing leading to ambiguity, but others that are just plain wrong. In addition, I have also purchased a couple of other manuals for the OAT, even one on CDROM and none has been worth the money paid for them. Seriously, if you want to do well on the OAT, buy review books for the individual subjects on the exam and study that way, I found course review books for all the major subjects and they have all been infinitely more helpful at reviewing the info. If you're really anal, just reread your old text books. Please understand that I am not some bitter moron who doesnt know his stuff. I have taken the MCAT and DAT and scored in the 97th and 99th percentile on both exams. I may be poor at deciding on a career path, but a bad test-taker I am not. I am preparing for the OAT and I honelstly believe I will lose a couple of point on the exam because this book has killed a few of my brain cells. I am going to be holding a ceremonial book burning for this thing if anyone is interested. So to summerize - DONT BUY THIS THING and if its given to you as a gift by a well-meaning family member, throw it back at them and never speak to them again. If I could address Aftabababa Hassan or whatever his name is or any of the supporting authors, I would like to say, "Your book is poop, pure fecal matter, pooh, fudge, sludge, slapper plop, nitrogenous waste, copalite, whatever you want to call it, it blows." As a final note, I was dumbfounded by the fact that I had to assign a rating of one star to this thing even though it doesnt deserve it. There should be a spot for 0 starts, actually there should be a spot for -5 starts for particularly bad books like this one. Ok, Im done now. ...............................................Wait, no Im not, this damn thing cost me 35 dollars with shipping. Thats the annual salary of someone in Cambodia. I want my money back and I want Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins to pull their fingers out of the colons and remove this thing from print, oh wait, they already did. Poop I tell ya, poop, the contents of a large pustule on my right butt cheek is worth more than this thing. On the other hand, if you really dont like someone in your class and would like them to fail at the OAT, by all means, buy a copy and leave it near their dorm room. I feel much better now.

Although the science review is not as thourough as other books, It was GREAT for its quantitative reasoning review and hints. I had two weeks to prepare and only used this book and the exambusters MCAT study cards and scored a 340. Even though the science part wasnt as thorough as other books I saw, I still averaged a 380 in the science parts.

I found this book to be a pretty good preparation for the test when I used it with my classroom notes and textbooks. I suppose it would not help people who have not had biology or chemistry yet, but is a good review. The physics section is complete enough to get you through that portion of the test by itself if you have the slightest inclination to physics. Finally (and most importantly) the practice exams in the book are harder than those on the real test, so that when you take the OAT, it seems like a cake walk. Highly recommended. 4 stars (not 5) because it is not a study but an outline of the OAT.